thepicketfencecliche | canon au } { of basketball and missed chances

Derek: [just eyes her as he lines up his next free throw shot] You know, homework is usually meant to be done at home.

Dawn: Oh, I'm sure it is. But at home I have fight training with Buffy and Watcher training with Giles and by the time I have time to do silly things like homework I'm so tired that my brain actually does one of those blue screens of doom and refuses to actually cooperate. [she glances up at him with a shrug] It's better to just get it done now if I can.

Derek: Hey, I go home after practice and spend a few hours having Peter beat me up trying to teach me to be this badass werewolf he thinks I should be. [takes the shot, nails it, and goes to get the ball] At least your sister pulls her punches.

Dawn: [she laughs a bit at that] Well, if it's any comfort, I'm sure they'd much rather be making googly eyes at each other. [because she's noticed that. Buffy's a bit obvious when there's a boy involved]

Derek: Yeah, pretty sure that's what they are doing right now. [walks over to her with the ball in his hands] Kinda weird that they're dating. Weird that Peter is just... dating.

Dawn: [her eyebrows raise a bit at that] Did he not date previously? Or were you expecting romance novel levels of swooning?

Derek: [bounces the ball, shrugs] He had a girl he was into but she was pretty much a bitch and Mom finally told him to get rid of her or she would. After that, he doesn't talk about it, and I'm not supposed to bring it up to him.

Dawn: [her head tips] And this precludes him from dating ever again?

Derek: [shrugs] Hey, I love my uncle, don't get me wrong. Be he can be an asshole sometimes. He means well, but still.

Dawn: Buffy's no picnic either. But she can hold her own, and she generally knows a bad guy when she sees him. [there's a beat as she thinks that over] I think with Peter, the odds are considerably less that she'll wind up killing him.

Derek: [no, they will just fight and then have makeup sex. Derek so is tired of walking in accidentally on makeup pre-sex moments guys] True.

Dawn: [poor, poor Derek] Besides, Peter is leagues better than Spike, which was her last boy ... thing. [not that Spike didn't find ways to redeem himself in the end, but when he and Buffy were actually doing whatever they were doing? Piles of badness.]

Derek: Yeah, from what you've told me, I believe that. [he bounces the ball a bit, looking at the pile of books] You really just going to sit here the entire period and read?

Dawn: [she glances up from the notes she's taking, before raising an eyebrow again] Do you have a better idea?

Derek: [holds up the ball] We can work on your game so you can show up the girls in gym class.

Dawn: [she makes a slightly pained face] Or you can run circles around me so that you look even more impressive?

Derek: There's no one here to impress. [besides you, Dawn, but you aren't interested so he doesn't try]

Dawn: [she is interested - she is very interested but Derek is her friend and she doesn't have very many of those in Beacon Hills. She's not going to risk that in case he isn't. But she also doesn't want to do homework so she takes a deep breath and sighs] Alright, fine.

Derek: [she gets a bright grin and he waits patiently to hold out the ball to her]

Dawn: [see, and when he smiles at her like that, it almost makes the embarrassment she's about to endure worth it. Almost. She takes the ball from him and bounces it once] Okay. Teach me, sensei.

Derek: [nods and walks her over to the free throw line, talking to her about how she needs to aim at having the ball hit the box at a certain strength behind the net so that it rebounds into the net]

Dawn: [nods a bit as she follows his lead, all things she's heard before. But she takes her position on the free throw line and stares back up at the basket. She waits for him to finish, bouncing the ball a few times, before pushing the ball out from her chest and towards the basket, watching as it falls very short of the rim. Her hands are all wrong, aiming a ball is different than aiming a crossbow, and she just generally is not athletic, even though she is getting better. All the same, she winces] Do I get a do-over?

Derek: [jogs to get the ball] Yeah, you do. Hold up, let me show you something. [he hands her the ball, and then his hands are on her hips, guiding her to get a better stance] Stand like this, and use your knees to push your arms up and give an extra bit of force to the ball.

Dawn: [is doing her best to not look flustered as she lets him adjust her body. Making a big deal out of it is probably not a good thing, and she's got a good poker face, but unfortunately there's little she can do for the slight uptick in her heart rate that comes with the boy you like being a lot closer than you would normally expect] Okay. [she follows his lead, bending her knees a little more, and when she shoots it's not perfect, but it does at least hit the rim, before bouncing to the opposite rim and then off into the bleachers again]

Derek: [he's just passing that heartbeat off as nerves - because no really, it can't be what he wants it to be - and goes to get the ball again] See, better. Now you just need to work on your aim and find your sweet spot to aim at in the box, and keep going until you make it a habit.

Dawn: [sighs a bit as she watches him] That sounds like a lot of time with a basketball that I don't really have.

Derek: So you practice. I mean, Peter will tell you that learning to do this is a great way to teach you control and focus.

Dawn: Control and focus I already have. I'm pretty good with a crossbow.

Derek: Yeah, but what happens when you need to like, toss weapons up to someone on a roof?

Dawn: Trick question - you don't throw weapons unless you're looking to do damage.

Derek: Not even in a bag with ropes and other gear?

Dawn: [she pauses for a moment, considering the question] At that weight, I can't throw it that far. We mostly carry swords and stuff. They're heavy.

Derek: Oh, too heavy? [teasing just a bit] Just means you need to build some muscle.

Dawn: [eyebrow raise at that tease] You try coming at me when I have a sword in my hand and I'll show you how heavy it is. [swords are the weapons she gets along with best] But throwing that plus rope, plus other gear is a bit out of my strength capacity at the moment.

Derek: [laughs] I'm not coming near you with a sword. I like my arms attached.

Dawn: [she grins] Smart boy.

Derek: [goes to dribble the ball back to her, holding it out to her with one hand] Want to keep trying?

Dawn: [she reaches for the ball easily, bouncing it again as she does] Sure you're not getting bored?

Derek: Nope. I mean, I could make myself bored and watch you do homework.

Dawn: [snorts before nodding] Okay, fine. You clearly are a masochist.

Derek: [drops his head in defeat] If you don't want to, I'm not going to make you. I can just go and play by myself.

Dawn: I was kidding. Making with the jokes? [she bounces the ball again] I just don't get why you're so interested in teaching me.

Derek: Maybe I just want to share something with you.

Dawn: So you ... just want to teach me something? [which is sort of adorable, in it's own way]

Derek: [shrugs] I figure if you knew, we could play sometimes.

Dawn: [drums her fingers against the ball for a moment, considering before nodding] Okay. But no mocking my considerable clumsiness.

Derek: [hands up] This is a mock free zone.

Dawn: Good. [she takes a breath, before turning back to the basket] Now show me how to hold my hands again?

Dawn: [yep, she's doing the same, and there's that uptick in her heartbeat again. Once he's finished, she takes a deep breath before doing as he told her - bending her knees, etc - and she pushes off, watching as the ball bounced once off the rim, before dropping straight through into the net, and she lets out a squeal of triumph]

Derek: [and he grins] See! That's what I'm talking about.

Dawn: [she turns and grins back at him before nodding] Okay. That was sort of cool.

Derek: [has gone to get the ball and bringing it back] Now just do it again.

[♫ One Fine Day ~ Beautiful]

Dawn: [see, doing it again is the tricky part. But she nods in agreement, before taking the ball from him and bouncing it a few times and mimicking the position again. She takes a step back to steady herself, but as she does her foot catches on the bottom of her jeans and she slips, shot going a bit wild as she starts to flail backwards with a squeak]

Derek: [and he's moving at wolf speed to catch her in his arms, looking down at her a moment with his green eyes in concern] You okay?

Dawn: Yeah. [she just stares up at him, unsure of what to do] Nice catch. That landing could have gotten a little messy.

Derek: [he just holds her there a moment, licking his lips before helps her back to her feet, taking a step back] Yeah, pretty sure that wouldn't have ended well.

Dawn: [the distance between them happens with a bit of a whoosh almost, just as quickly as he was there, he was gone, and they were back to just being friends again. She swallows a bit, before nodding] Pain, suffering, possibly blood. For the best if avoided all together.

Derek: Especially the blood. I heard it's a bitch to get off gym floors. [and then the school bell goes off] and now I have Math. [ew]

Dawn: [makes a face of her own] Art. [she exhales as she heads for her books] But I'll see you in history later?

Derek: [smirks] Totally.

Dawn: [she flashes him a smile and then she's stooping to scoop up her books and head to class]

Derek: [and he's returning the ball to the racks and going to grab his bag and head out as well, shaking his head to himself]